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Candle Lighting Unites Bereaved Families December 12, 2010

Tens of thousands of families around the world, grieving the loss of a child, will join together Sunday, December 12 for The Compassionate Friends fourteenth annual Worldwide Candle Lighting.  “The holiday season is especially difficult for bereaved families,” says Compassionate Friends co-leader Lisa Linkowsky. “The second Sunday in December has become the one day during the holiday season when families can unite in remembrance of all children gone too soon.

 “So often our loss is minimized by others who believe the holiday season is a time to forget the realities of life,” says Mrs. Linkowsky. “When your child has died, it’s hard to be in a festive mood.” The death of a child is devastating and it’s important to the family that the child always be remembered. That’s why members of the Mercer Area Chapter of The Compassionate Friends (TCF) will participate in an annual worldwide event designed to honor the memories of all children, regardless of age, who have died. 

The local candle lighting will be part of a special service held at 6-9 p.m. at the RWJ Wellness Center at
3100 Quakerbridge Road in Mercerville and will feature music, poems and the reading of our children’s names. Annually tens of thousands of families, united in loss, light candles for one hour during the Worldwide Candle Lighting, held the second Sunday in December. Candles are first lit at 7 p.m., local time, just west of the International Date Line. As candles burn down in one time zone, they are lighted in the next, creating a 24-hour wave of light as the observance continues around the world.

More than 500 services open to the public will be held in the United States including all 50 states, plus
Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Last year The Compassionate Friends received information on services held in approximately 20 countries outside the United States.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting is sponsored by The Compassionate Friends, the world’s largest self-help
bereavement organization for families grieving the death of a child. The organization has more than 625 chapters blanketing the United States. The Worldwide Candle Lighting was started by a small group of Internet visionaries who recognized that a day should exist to honor the memories of all children who have died. The observance has grown every year and is now believed to be the world’s largest mass candle lighting. The candle lighting is officially held for an hour at 7 p.m. local time around the world, creating a virtual wave of light. Tens of thousands, unable to attend services held throughout the day, will light candles for that hour wherever they may be, whether alone or with friends and family.  Persons interested in participating in the Worldwide Candle Lighting, but who may not be able to attend an organized event have two additional alternatives. They can join in the Online Support Community (chats) on The Compassionate Friends national website. They also can join in a virtual candle lighting being held at 7 p.m. PST in Second Life, an online virtual community with more than 6 million members.

In addition, bereaved family members, relatives, and friends are invited to post a memorial message December 12 in a Remembrance Book on TCF’s national website. Last year several thousand messages, some in foreign languages, were received during the Worldwide Candle Lighting day from throughout the United States and dozens of countries abroad.

Due to limited space we require that you RSVP with the number attending no later than December 12th, 2010 to our chapter website info@tcfmercer.org or to our chapter hotline at 609-516-8047.